1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical image recording system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a medical image recording system which records information of an image shot by making an examination with an electronic endoscope, etc., and allows the information to be effectively used for a diagnosis after the examination, an electronic carte to be filled in, the progression observation of a treatment effect, results of examinations made by a plurality of doctors, a diagnostic conference, etc. is proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI07-141498). Also a medical image recording system having a mechanism for obtaining and recording information of a device used for an examination to grasp the use state of the device used at the time of the examination is proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-46326).
In these medical image recording systems, an observation image of a medical device such as an electronic endoscope, etc. is recorded along with patient data (an ID number, a name, etc.), and when a report of an examination is created with an electronic carte after the examination is terminated, a shot medical image is pasted on an electronic carte report screen, contents of an examination made are recorded, and the type name and the S/N (serial number) of a device used for the examination, and the name of a drug, etc. used for the examination are input.
However, with the conventional medical image recording systems, the information of the type name, the S/N, etc. of a device used for an examination is manually input, or such information items are selected from a list preregistered to a database, in order to record the contents of an examination made.
In the case of a large hospital, examinations of as many as 10,000 patients per year can possibly be made, and various types of devices are used for only one examination. By way of example, only for an electronic endoscope, its types include a duodenal endoscope, an esophageal endoscope, an endoscope for an electric knife treatment, etc. Additionally, product generations exist even for an endoscope of the same type. For example, an endoscope introduced ten years ago and an endoscope introduced one year ago coexist, and are used in many cases.
Accordingly, input operations for recording the information (such as a type name, an S/N, etc.) of a device used for an examination to an electronic carte, etc. after the examination is made are very troublesome. Additionally, since the input operations rely on a note or memory of a user, there is a great possibility that an input error is caused. Additionally, if an input error occurs, it is difficult to notice the input error, and the error can be possibly overlooked. Furthermore, if a person who makes an examination differs from a person who makes a diagnosis after the examination, it becomes much more difficult to notice the above described error.
Besides, since a large number of examinations are made for one year as described above, the amount of image information handled becomes very large. Therefore, it is difficult to make an association between information of a shooting condition used at the time of an examination, a device, etc., and image information, after the examination is made. Furthermore, if image processes such as an enhancement, etc. are executed at the time of shooting, they can possibly hinder an image process when image information is reproduced later.
A problem of the above described conventional medical image recording systems is that a 1-to-1 association is not assured to be made (image information is not associated with the information of a device, etc. due to a man-made error) between image information obtained at the time of an examination, and information of a medical device, etc. used when an image is obtained (at the time of the examination). This is because the image information obtaining unit obtaining an observation image at the time of an examination, and the device information obtaining unit obtaining information of a medical device used when the image is obtained (at the time of the examination) are completely independent.